Independance
by TrailBlazer912
Summary: Fourteen year old Lucy Downbrook is just starting out at Canterwood with her Arabain gelding, Indi. She's nervous, excited, and in for a wild ride as she meets friends, enemies and everything in between! All OCs
1. Arrivals and Homesickness

**Hey Guys!**

**Trailblazer912 here!**

**So happy to be starting another story! And before you ask, yes all of my other stories that are NOT on hiatus or worse are coming along!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Canterwood, I only own MY CHARACTERS!**

Canterwood… I wonder what it will be like. Maybe it'll be huge, just like it was when I visited last spring…maybe I'll never find my way around and be late for all of my classes! What if-

"Lucy? Are you listening?" My mom's voice snapped me out of my dreams and a voice inside my head told me to stop being such a three year old and listen for once!

My head snapped up from the window of our gray truck and I sighed.

"Sorry, Mom." I mumbled before Dad parked the car and I jumped out.

I breathed in the crisp Connecticut air. It was kind of weird really. Connecticut smelled nothing like Virginia, which smelled mostly of, at least where I was horses, sweet grass and cinnamon.

I picked up my purple and pink Coach Poppy bag and slung it over my shoulder while gathering up my other suitcases.

Mom helped me lug them up to my dorm, and as we entered Clarke, I sighed.

Finding my dorm room, we lugged in the suitcases when Mom got a call on her cell.

I sat down on one of the beds and flipped through pictures of my home. I felt a lump rising in my throat when I saw a picture of my three best friends and I, Mia, Kailey, Jessica and I were in front of a horse trailer, all holding up ribbons from our first hunter pace.

I was about to start crying when Mom got my attention.

"Honey, Dad and I are going to call Katie and check in on Thunder and Anne, they hate it when their favorite girl is gone, you know" Mom brushed a lock of dirty-blonde hair out of her face, just like I did when I was nervous. She picked up her purse and walked out the door, looking back over her shoulder every three feet to see that I hadn't gone anywhere.

After my mom had left, I settled into the room I was assigned, of course with a roommate, who I had yet to meet in person. Her name was Taylor; we talked over the summer and e-mailed each other ten times a day. We had defiantly become BFFs, just through the phone and computer. Don't you just love technology?

Looking around the room, it looked a little empty and sad because of the little that was in it, but it was beautiful. The sunlight coming in from the bright window and the creamy-yellow walls that matched the shiny oak floor, now cluttered with my lilac colored suit cases, reminded me of home.

Home.

I shook my head. This was my home now, well, at least for the school year. Suddenly, the thought of being alone without my mom and dad there made me want to cry, but I didn't dare. Livvie, the super nice dorm monitor, wouldn't like me crying on my first day.

"Luce? You in here?" I heard my dad call softly from the hall way. My dad likes to use his inside voice, he works part time at a library, so I shouldn't be surprised.

"Over here Dad! You should see this! It's just like my room back-back home" I whispered the last two words. Dad came over and gave me a big hug, which I returned and tried not to get tears on his new tie.

"I'll miss you daddy" I hadn't said that sentence since I was… three maybe? But Dad understood how hard it must have been for me to leave home and everything I knew that was important to me, especially the horses back at our ranch.

Especially the favorites, Stealing Thunder and Lady Anne, or Thunder and Anne for short.

Thunder was a beautiful Dun Sabino with a bald face, black mane and tail, two white stockings on his back hooves and two black stockings on his front ones with a steely dun coat. Thunder was descended from a fierce line of wild mustangs, but his mother and he had both grown up at Small River Stables, my home.

We called him Stealing Thunder as an inside joke: he would always steal another horse's thunder in the show ring, which was so true.

Anne was a gray Arabian mare who loved to show off in the dressage ring, she was also a beginner's school horse for lessons we gave at the ranch. She was gentle and sweet, which was why we had named her after my great-grandmother, Anne, who was known for her gentle touch and nurturing nature.

Thunder was more advanced because he had the attitude of a hyper seven year old. He was a trickster, and was angered easily. Dad used to say that Thunder would fit right in with wild mustangs, he kicked and bucked like he was a yearling.

I had lost count of how many times he had thrown me off just for the fun of it. Not to mention all the times I forgave him because of his puppy dog eyes and pouty face.

Anne was Mom's horse and Thunder was Dad's. Family trail rides were big in my family, racing through paddocks and riding as fast as the wind.

My own personal horse that I had brought to Canterwood was Independence Flag, or Indi for short. A pure white, seven year old Arabian gelding, not to mention Anne's first and only foal. His father was a champion stallion that we had bought and retired a few years before Indi was born.

The Arabian was perfect in my eyes. Ever since he was a colt I knew he was mine, but no one ever really said it.

With Canterwood being new, scary and just a little bit thrilling, my parents had decided to let Indi come along with me. He was the last part of home I really had, not to mention my best friend.

But we didn't own just two horses, we owned 67, including Anne, Thunder and Indi.

Dad let go of me and fresh tears came into my eyes. I wanted him to stay so badly, but I knew he couldn't.

"Let's go see Indi, Mom has him outside tied to the trailer and I bet he's itching to get into his new stall." All of a sudden, I felt better thinking about my horse.

"Ok"

**Chapter one DONE! Yay! Hopefully 2 should be up…TODAY :D**

**R&R!**


	2. Indi and Taylor

**Didn't I say Ch. 2 was probably going to be up again today?**

**Yes? Good, (at least SOME of you were paying attention!)**

**Disclaimer: I do not in any shape, size or form own Canterwood. But I do own my characters.**

**And we go!**

There he was, clean and sparkling in the sunny September day. As soon as I came into view, Indi stared prancing in place and throwing his head in the air to try and beckon me closer. His white tail was lifted like a banner, and he arched his neck, showing off his famous blood line traits.

He was so excited he nearly knocked my mom over.

"Indi! Stop it! Lucy's coming, you're seven not three now act your age." my mom gave him her evil eye, Indi seemed to lose a bit of his hyper radiance, but kept his eyes on me. That was my mother.

Mom was one of the main trainers at Small Creek Stables; she had trained Indi herself, even though I was the first to ride him. And the first to get bucked off, might I add.

When I reached the trailer, I all out flung myself at Mom, trying not to sob.

"Luce here is having homesick troubles" Dad stage-whispered to my mother. I sniffed and straightened up.

"A-am not" I said, rubbing my eyes with my sleeve. Mom saw though my stubbornness and put a comforting hand on my shoulder.

"It's ok, we're just a text, e-mail or phone call away and before you know it, it'll be fall vacation and you won't wait to get rid of us!" She smiled at me and made me feel a lot better.

Indi, obviously feeling left out, decided to get my attention by nibbling on my new blue T-shirt and leaving teeth marks on it.

"_Indi_" I whined, trying furiously to rub the stain away. Both Mom and Dad laughed and I just had to laugh with them.

Before I knew it, it was time to go. I hugged my parents-twice-before they both climbed into our gray Ford truck, waving goodbye as I watched the silver and red horse trailer disappear down the drive way

Indi nuzzled me and I stroked his velvet nose.

"Let's go, boy, let's get you to your new stall" Even as I said it, I was happy and sad to adjust my grip on the lead line to his halter and lead him to Canterwood's stable. Our stable now.

I walked down the beautiful stable isles of Canterwood. The barn had to hold over a hundred horses, at minimum! I glanced down at the tag that had been mailed to my family when I had gotten my acceptance letter.

"Okay Indi, stall #43." I patted his neck and lead him down the stable halls, counting the stall numbers as I went.

"39...40...41...42…aha! Here it is, Stall #43." I read the name that had been etched in the gold plating of Indi's new stall door.

_Independence Flag (Indi)_

_Owner: Lucy Downbrook_

I ran my fingers over the cool exterior of the plate.

Leading Indi in, I undid his red and blue halter. His hay net and water bucket were already filled, and he eyed the hay net hungrily, but stayed by me as I stepped out of the stall and latched the bottom door shut.

"Beautiful! You look like a horsey prince!" I laughed as Indi blew in my face and then turned his attention to his hay net.

"Of course, we haven't even been here five minutes and the only thing you can think of is your stomach, you need to stop hanging around Thunder so much." I sighed.

Indi turned back to me and nudged my back, pushing me away from the stall as if to say: _Go on, go make friends, I'm fine here alone!_

"I am being pretty silly, aren't I boy?" He nickered and blew into my cupped hand, before turning so his rump was facing me, his nose to the hay net.

Reading that I wasn't needed, I blew him a kiss goodbye and pulled out my fav. lip gloss, Strawberry Kiwi. I was walking back down the hall, spreading the glossy-goodness onto my lips, but because I wasn't looking where I was going, I crashed into someone else.

Ow.

I landed back on my butt, as did the other person. My lip gloss was thrown away from my hand and skidded down the concrete flooring. However, that was the least of my thoughts at the moment.

I had barely been at Canterwood five minutes, and I had already probably made an enemy! Lucy Downbrook, you are so doomed!

"Omigod! I'm so sorry!" We said at both said at once. I looked at her and she looked at me. She was pretty with a tan summer look and had Carmel brown hair with nice green eyes. She was wearing an oversized sweater and new brown breeches along with tan riding boots.

"It's okay, new rider right?" She smiled at me.

"How'd ya guess?"

"It hit me with that 'am I gonna mess EVERYTHING up today' look." We laughed.

"By the way, I'm Pandora Martin" I shook her hand.

"Lucy Downbrook. Glad I ran into you and not some total drama queen!" I laughed but Pandora kept quiet.

''Well, there are plenty of them around" she murmured

I felt myself go pale.

"But don't worry if you need help just ask Livvie to show you my room, I'm in Clarke too, I saw you moving in today but you left before I could say hi" I slightly remembered her in the halls, but I wasn't sure.

"If you need to find me around here," she waved a hand around the stables "just look for a gray mare with 'IVORY' on the name plate" I exhaled and thanked her for her help.

"Oh, before I forget, don't be late for your first day with Mr. Connor, and _always _go to the indoor arena, good luck" and with that, she turned a corner and disappeared.

Okay. Weird. But I was glad to have someone looking out for me.

I stood there for a minute, staring off into space before my watch beeped and I realized: I was five minutes late to meet Taylor at Clarke!

Forgetting my lip gloss, I sprinted as fast I could-without disturbing anyone or any horse- back to Clarke, nervous to meet my new roommate in person.

When I got back to Clarke, Taylor was already there.

She was sitting on her bed with her raven colored hair in a pony tail. She was wearing a pair of pink yoga paints, a yellow T-shit, mini sweater and fluffy pink socks and reading the new issue of _Dogs 101 Weekly_. I loved this girl already!

She looked up as I entered and shot up off the bed, throwing her arms out in a gesture to hug her.

"Taylor!"

"Lucy!"

We hugged each other and started unpacking our things. talking at the same time.

Topics whizzed by, summer, boys, pets, parents, boys, our siblings, boys, neighbors and boys. Before I knew it, we had run out of things to say, and we just decorated in a comfortable silence.

We stood in the center of the room and admired our work.

Our beds had been made with soft green comforters, the bed side tables both had lamps on them and pictures of our family and pets (she had a dog named Sherbet and mine was obvi. Indi).

We hung up a poster of Ruffian, who Taylor also loved. The small coffee table was soon filled with gossip girl magazines, Horse weekly and Dogs 101 with a beautiful bouquet in the center.

Our bathroom had my old peace sign rug and all our tooth brushes, beauty supplies and other girly stuff. The closet was filled with our outfits and shoes.

Taylor had brought her own CD player, a TV and iHome so I only had to bring the sound system. Our room was a work of art.

As we stood admiring our work, I remembered Pandora.

"Taylor, do you want to meet my friend Pandora?" I asked, setting down my book I had picked up. We were both exhausted after unpacking _all _of our stuff. Taylor had been standing in front of her baby blue full-length mirror, looking at a cute mini skirt and cable knit sweater for tomorrow.

"Sure, why not?" She shrugged.

We went to Livvie's office and asked where Pandora's room was.

"Down the hall to the left, it's the purple door and you can't miss it" We thanked Livve and went on our way.

After we finally found her room, we knocked and were let in by Pandora's roommate.

"Hi! I'm Ellie! It's nice to meet you guys!" she smiled, and her bubbly attitude just made me happy being around her.

"Come on in, Pandora's in the bathroom with wet hair and she'll be out in a minute" Ellie said as she waved a hand for us to come in.

I sat down on the floor and Amy sat on Pandora's bed while Ellie sat in her desk chair. We chatted about school, how our summers were and who we thought was the hottest guy in Canterwood.

"I don't really know, I've only been here about-"I checked my watch. 4:48. "Three hours" We laughed as Pandora came out.

"Hey, Lucy!" I waved back and smiled.

"So, you got all your things in and unpacked?" I nodded and she sat down on her desk chair.

She noticed Taylor feeling a bit out of the loop.

"Oh, are you Lucy's roommate?" She asked as she took her towel off her head and draped it on a chair. Her wet hair draped back over her back and onto her fluffy pink bath robe.

"Yeah, I'm Taylor"

"Cool, I'm Pandora, Lucy and I will probably be seeing each other at the stables." I smiled at her and she continued.

"I'm on the intermediate team, so if you do make it to Intermediate, you might be my teammate!" I bit my lip and felt excitement well up inside of me.

Part of what sealed the deal for my parents to decide to send me to Canterwood was the equestrian program.

I silently crossed my fingers that I would impress the riding instructor, Mr. Connor. He seemed nice in the emails I had received and sent to him, answering all my questions about the riding program, as my parents had set up.

Ellie's voice brought me back to earth.

"It'll be awesome to have you guys in Clarke!" We all smiled.

Pandora went back into the bathroom to get changed and the rest of us went back to our earlier conversation, which really only Taylor and Ellie had a say in.

Pandora came out about 10 minutes later wearing a T-shirt with flower printing all over it and had black breeches tucked into brown riding boots with her hair back in a pony tail.

A cute flower clip was in her hair, tucking back fly aways, she was also smoothing on Banana lip gloss.

"Hey, Lucy, you wanna come with me to the stables and take a trail ride?" She asked me, obviously wanting company.

"Hey, why not, Indi needs some lax time" And that's where we went.


	3. Trailriding and Silver

**Chaper 3 as well!**

**I am good! Lol, now then, **

**Disclaimer: Again, I don't own Canterwood Crest. I do, however, own my characters!**

Walking down the Canterwood Crest Stable isles, I was a little intimidated by it. I mean, most people who come from Canterwood go onto becoming YENT and Olympic champions, how could I not be intimidated?

"These stables never get old..." Pandora breathed, studying the dark oak as well as we led our horses towards the woods.

"I don't doubt it." I nodded, and then hopped onto Indi's back. He snorted and pawed the ground; he was ready to go!

As we trotted into the woods, I noticed the cross country course just ahead. Different obstacles made up the jumps. Logs, picnic benches, even a ditch was part of the course.

My strongest disciplinary had never been cross country, and neither was Indi's. He enjoyed trail rides, but I would have to be sharp if I needed him to stay calm during the entire ride through various obstacles he had never even seen before.

Note to self: introduce Indi to "scary" objects before my cross country lesson.

At first we stuck with a gentle trot through the woods, but soon Indi and Ivory began to ask for more reign, so when we got into an open clearing, we simultaneously kicked out horses into a gallop.

Indi launched into his gait and shook his head, his mane flowing back with the wind. I couldn't help but let out a whoop of exhilaration as we soared across the field.

Pandora looked over at me from where she was in two-point over Ivory's neck. She laughed and smiled before kicking Ivory into an even faster gallop, which her gray mare happily broke into.

Indi not wanting to be outdone followed suit, letting out a shrill whinny as he did. I smiled deviously as we got closer to the pair, and soon we were neck and neck.

However, Ivory beat us by at least a tail length when we broke back into the woods and slowed our horses to a walk.

Indi's coat was dark with sweat, but he seemed to have just as much energy as he usually did. Arabians, go figure.

I, however, was out of breath, and so was Pandora. We caught our breath for a moment, letting our horses sneak some nibbles of grass before we found our voices again.

"Wow, Ivory sure has some stride. Maybe she should be a racehorse instead of a dressage horse!" I laughed, and Pandora giggled sheepishly.

"Well she is a thoroughbred hunter mix..."

My jaw dropped and I pulled Indi over to Ivory so I could punch her playfully in the arm.

"You couldn't have told me that _before_ the race?" I laughed as Ivory and Indi came to a halt near the outdoor arena.

"Hey, then you wouldn't have agreed to it!" We both cracked up.

Then I heard a low neigh and looked over into the outdoor arena. A horse and rider were doing a beautiful canter along the fence line and looked like molten steel in the afternoon sun. The warmblood's neck was arched beautifully, and his canter was collected to perfection.

Then I noticed the _rider._

Oh. My. God.

I felt my heart stop as I watched them. The boy had handsome brown hair, from what I could see under his helmet, gorgeous blue eyes that were narrowed down in between his horse's ears.

He wore a lose fitting blue polo shirt and brown breeches with black boots. I almost fell off of Indi's back watching him.

Pandora must have noticed me staring and smiled as she looked at the two.

"His name is Marcus, that's his horse, Quick Silver." She said pointing. When Marcus realized he had and audience, he kicked Quick Silver into a faster canter and only slowed to a trot when he was about ten feet away and then completely stopped at the fence. He smiled at me. I felt myself go red and tried to hide it as I pretended to check Indi's martingale.

"Hey, Pandora, who's your friend? I thought I saw you earlier but I didn't get the chance to say hi, so…hi" We all laughed. Indi went up to smell this new horse and whinnied a greeting to him as they rubbed noses.

"Cute!" Pandora squealed. The two geldings bobbed their heads and nickered greetings to each other.

"Well that's a surprise." I looked to Marcus, question in my eyes. He let Quick Silver's reigns drop a moment to gesture with his hands.

"Quick Silver usually doesn't get along with other horses, especially, for some odd reason, Arabians. So to see this," he pointed to the two geldings calmly standing together, swishing flies, "is kind of a mind blower."

"I see...Well Quick Silver's a pretty name. It fits him, that's for sure." Marcus smiled at me as he rubbed Quick Silver's neck, and my stomach fluttered.

"Thanks, what's your horse's name?" he asked.

"Independence Flag" I stated proudly.

"I really hope that's not his nick name" He joked.

"No, Indi is his nick name. I ADORE him" I said as I bent down to hug Indi's neck, which he graciously put up with.

"Cool, well, Quick Silver is getting tired and I need to eat something before the lunch ladies serve their 'Sunday brunch special' trust me, you _don't_ want to go down that road." I laughed at his joke. He was funny.

"Me too, I haven't eaten since breakfast!" I said, hearing my stomach growl.

Indi tried to nibble on some grass but I pulled his head up and Marcus, me and Pandora walked our horses back to the stable until they were cool.

As we were walking down the long isles, I noticed that Indi had started to pick his back hoof up.

I turned to Pandora and Marcus who were still walking Ivory and Quick Silver.

"Guys!" They turned around to see what was going on.

"What's going on?" Pandora asked, halting Ivory, who desperately wanted to get to her cozy stall.

"I need to check Indi's hoof, you guys go on a head, okay?" I flashed a smile and they nodded, moving on a head and disappearing around a corner.

I inspected his leg, to find nothing wrong and shrugged, happy it was not a bruise. If I hadn't been able to ride Indi in my lessons because of an injury, I would probably die.

I thought everything was fine until I saw a horse that had been led out of the stall behind us. It was a fiery chestnut, it's coat polished at a pretty gleam. I stared in awe at the thoroughbred, who walked with his head up, just like his owner. I barely noticed out of the corner of my eye that Indi's ears flattened against his head.

I didn't have enough time to finish admiring the horse before Indi squealed and kicked out at it.

The other horse bit his leg in response. Before I could process what was going on, Indi half reared at the horse and tried to pull away from my grip. The chestnut did the same.

"Lancelot!" the girl leading him shrieked as I turned Indi away from the horse and girl. The horses snorted at each other with their ears pinned and eyes almost completely white.

"Indi!" I hissed, before tugging his lead rope down back to earth. He snorted and pawed his front hoof at the gray, daring him to come closer.

The girls' head whipped to me and I saw her eyes flash with fury.

"_Your horse did this!_ Don't you know when to control a mad horse, god, what a loser, and Lancelot might be hurt!" Her gaze narrowed.

"You didn't come here to learn the _basics_ and pull everyone else down with you!" with that she tugged on the horse-Lancelot's-lead rope and walked away.

I shakily pulled Indi around a corner, and petted his head.

"What's wrong with you boy, I thought you got along with everyone at home." he gave me the signature puppy dog eyes before I hugged him and tried to catch up with my friends.

"Oh that's just great! Indi ate some grass and now his bit looks like someone put green food dye in his oats!" I said as me and Marcus cleaned our tack in the tack room. Marcus laughed until he fell over, making us both laugh so hard we both fell over.

"Almost like back home. The girls at my barn would have "tack cleaning parties" where someone would bring donuts or cupcakes and we would clean the tack with music on, until my parents came and told us to quite down, but all they wanted was a pastry" Marcus laughed harder and so did I. After our laughter died down, we went back to talking normally, sorta.

"I miss my parents already though…" I said. Marcus looked at me thoughtfully and nodded.

Then came the she-devil.

"Excuse me, but you're standing over Lancelot's tack, and it seems that you dropped his bridle when you came to get your tack." A voice came from the door way. I looked up to see the pretty brunette girl wearing obviously new riding breeches and a designer riding shirt and jacket, different from her previous outfit. Her last outfit didn't even seem to be _that_ dirty, and it had only been an hour!

How many costume changes did this girl _do?_

"Oh, sorry…um…"

"Skyler" the girl -Skyler- finished my sentence, glaring daggers. Then, seeing Marcus, she winked and flirtatiously smiled his way.

"Hi, Marucs, how's Silver? He looked sooo good today during practice, I could barely tell you two apart." she giggled, but Marcus rolled his eyes and shook his head.

I stood up and walked out of the tack room, having enough of this girl's antics, Marcus at my heels.

Skyler called after us.

"If Lancelot's tack is dirty, you're cleaning it, newbie!" she yelled. I clenched my hands together and tried to relax. She was just mad that Indi and Skyler had gotten into a fight, that's all.

"Don't get all wound up with Skyler, she's just a drama queen, how about some lunch?" Marcus asked.

Before I could answer, someone called Marcus at the end of the hall.

"Marcus, are you coming?"

Obviously a girl's voice.

"Oh, that's Chelsea, she'll be glad to meet you, she's a really cool girl" Marcus said as we walked down the corridor and met up with Chelsea.

She was pretty with coffee brown skin and jet black hair. She was wearing a nice purple top with tan breeches and brown riding boots. In one hand she had her cell phone, which she was furiously texting on, and the other a black helmet.

"Hey, I'm Lucy" I said to Chelsea. She looked over at me and seemed to notice me for the first time. Her eyes lit up and a smile came across her face.

"I'm Chelsea, Pandora's talked a lot about you. Your horse is very handsome" She said

Then I realized that we were all standing in front of Indi's stall.

"Thanks" I nodded, petting Indi's head.

"I've had him for, like, ever. He was born at my stable, and we just...clicked. He's my big teddy bear now, aren't you, baby?" I said as I kissed his nose. Chelsea and Marcus laughed when Indi shook me off, as if to say, _Mom, you're embarrassing me!_

However, our laughter was cut short when we heard a high, laughing voice.

"So, how cool is it that we are all away from home _without our parents_ and get to finally have some freedom?" two girls who walked passed said a little too loudly. I realized that one of the girls was _Skyler_ and she passed a sickly sweet smile over her shoulder and kept walking.

"What losers would want their parents with them, like, twenty-four seven? It's just sad how people think they're ready for stuff like boarding school" Chelsea and Marcus just shrugged and rolled their eyes at Skyler, but I was fazed by her words.

I missed home. I didn't want to cry in front of everyone, but they had heard it too and were obviously alright with being away from home. I wasn't.

All of a sudden, I started to feel heat behind my eyes. I had to brace myself against Indi's door to steady myself and try to look calm.

"You ok, Lucy?" Marcus asked me with concern clouding his face.

"Uh, one sec" I ran off out the doors of the stable and sat down on a bench and tried not to cry. What Skyler said hurt and I missed my mom and dad. Then I realized that I could call them anytime! Like right then!

I took out my Blackberry Curve and started to speed dial my mom.

_Ring, ring, ring_.

"Hello? Honey is everything ok?" my mom sounded like she had been watching the phone for hours waiting for me to call.

"Yeah, everything's fine, I just wanted to say hi and see if everything's okay back home." I was telling the truth. Growing up on a horse farm, you learn to care about your home more than anyone who didn't live on a farm would.

"A bit dull, but running smoothly...Honey, are you sure you're ok?" I smiled at the concern in her voice.

"I'm fine, I just wanted to hear your voice, and this big bad boarding school is making me miss home." I felt my voice waver but tried to keep calm.

"Oh sweetie, I know it's hard, but you are a very strong girl, and I know you will overcome this, I love you." I smiled until I noticed that Marcus was sitting next to me on the bench.

"Uh, got to go mom, love you bye!" I hung up the phone and stuffed it in my pocket. I didn't dare look at Marcus.

**Yeaaah, one of my worst, I think… But the trail ride was a good part!**

**R&R for more chapters (I'll post them anyway, but more reviews would be nice!)**


	4. Texts and Tests

**Chapter 4 baby!**

**WOOP!**

**Here it is!**

**Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN CANTERWOOD. PERIOD! **

**But I do own my characters!**

**Ciao~**

We sat in an awkward silence for a while, I didn't want to look at him at all.

"It's okay that you miss them" I looked up at him, surprised. But he kept a straight face and stared at the ground.

"I miss my parents sometimes. What Skyler said was nasty, but it gets better. Trust me, now how about that lunch?" He said standing up. I realized that I didn't need my parents for comfort, that's what my friends where here for.

I smiled at him and stood up. We talked about different things on the way to the Caf. I blushed when Marcus asked if I had a boyfriend.

"Well… I _had_ one, but he dumped me for this girl who was a cheerleader at our school. She always threw dirty looks at me whenever I saw her and tried to mock me about how awesome _her_ boyfriend was. It was quite annoying after a while, and I learned to deal with it." I finished. I seriously couldn't care less about Carmen and Drew, but Marcus had a bad scowl on his face.

"Jerk. He was lucky to have a girlfriend like you, you're really easy to talk to, ya know" I smiled, but didn't say anything.

"I didn't mean that easy! You have to start talking more, I feel like I'm talking to a wall!" I laughed. We reached the Caf and snagged a table. Marcus asked me what I wanted and got up to get the food while I saved the table. As I waited for Marcus, my phone buzzed.

Looking down, I looked at a text Taylor had sent.

_Sherbertn'Sunday: Where r u? Trail ride ovr?_

I remembered that I had promised Taylor before I left that I would help her pick out matching outfits for us for school tomorrow.

I typed back quickly:

_Indi's-baby: OMG tot forgot! Srry w/ a riding buddy, Marcus. Brb after lunch._

My phone beeped almost immediately after.

_Sherbertn'Sunday: ooooooh a boy? ;) Tht's kewl, just be back b4 curfew._

My face flushed pink as I frantically typed back.

_Indi's-baby: Tay! Nt funny! He's jst a friend! _

All she sent back was a wink, and I knew I would never hear the end of it when I got back to Clarke.

–

Before I knew it, it was Monday morning.

My alarm woke me up at 6 o' clock sharp, and I was up out of my bed in less than a second.

Taylor, however, was a different story. She groaned as she got up and I had to coax her out of bed with the promise of a cookie to be able just to get her to get dressed.

Soon, it was 6:30, and we were both out the door.

Taylor and I were delighted to know we pretty much had the same classes. Bio, Math, English and History were all together. However, Taylor had a fashion class while I had drama and art. Also, Taylor took gym while I rode.

We laughed and chatted on our way over the caf where we got chocolate chip waffles and orange juice.

I spotted Pandora and Ellie along with Chelsea a few tables away. They waved and we went over to sit with them.

"Hey guys! Ready for your first day at Canterwood?" Ellie asked, and I nodded along with Taylor.

"But the question we really want to know is if you're ready for your placement test with Mr. Connor!" Pandora said, and I shrugged.

"Indi and I are ready; I just hope I get on the intermediate team!" Pandora nodded and I smiled.

"You can't get on the advanced team in placement, but the way you rode on our trail ride, and how in sync you are with Indi, you'll do great!" I smiled and nodded, and we chatted over light subjects before we realized it was time to get to Math.

Surprisingly, Pandora had the same class as us, and we walked to Mrs. Utz math class together.

As the other students were trickling in, I saw someone I didn't expect.

"Marcus?"

Said boy turned to where his name was being called from, and he smiled when he saw me.

"Hey, Lucy! What's up?" he asked, sitting down next to me. Ignoring the looks my friends were giving me, I smiled back.

"Not much, just waiting for this class to start. Have you been in this math class before?" I asked, and Marcus shook his head.

"Nope, I had Mrs. Ren last year. How do you like Canterwood so far?" he asked, and I couldn't help but tuck a lock of hair behind my ear.

"Its really cool, but I'm a little nervous for the work load." I admitted, and Marcus nodded.

He was about to reply when who I presumed to be Mrs. Utz walked in. The class quieted as she took her seat at her desk in front of the class.

"Welcome to Math this year, ladies and gentlemen. I hope you like who you're sitting next to, because they will be your partner for the rest of the year, unless circumstances change." She smiled, and there were a few hushed murmured throughout the class.

I glanced at Marcus who smiled and gave me a thumbs up. Was it bad that I was suddenly urging myself not to start giggling like a third grader?

The rest of the class went on well, and before I knew it I was packing my things up and Marcus and I were walking out of the classroom together.

"So I heard you have your testing with Mr. Connor today." He said, and I couldn't help but stare for a moment at his gorgeous blue eyes.

"Yeah, I'm a little nervous. Indi seems fine though, and he's probably itching to get out of his stall already."

Marcus laughed and waved goodbye as he went off to his next class.

I smiled to myself. Today was starting off on a good foot.

As soon as classes were over (which was not exactly a bad thing since I had my friends and Marcus in almost every other class with me), I rushed back to Clarke to change.

I went with a pink polo shirt and black breeches along with my black and chestnut at the top Ariats.

I grabbed my helmet and a bottle of water before checking my watch.

4:30.

My testing was at 5, so if I got to the stables soon, I would have time to warm Indi up.

I walked across campus to the Canterwood stables and found Indi's stall. Seeing me all dressed up in riding clothes, Indi knew what was going on. He pranced down the aisle, tossing his head and keeping his tail up like a banner as I clipped him into the cross ties.

I grabbed his blue tack box and got to work brushing him. He was already pretty clean so I just had to get a few patches of unkempt hair out of his fur and he was ready.

Jogging to the tack room, I opened the door to grab Indi's tack and almost ran smack into…

Skyler.

Joy.

She glared at me and tossed her hair over her shoulder. I couldn't help but envy her for her outfit. It was a hunter green collared shirt with white stripes going horizontally across, and her flawless brown breeches with black dressage boots made me feel a bit shabby in my own clothes.

"Watch where you're going, newbie. And I know your testing by the way. Why are you even trying? I mean, you'll just fail anyway." She snorted, and I narrowed my eyes.

"Whatever, Skyler. But when I get on the intermediate team, don't come crying to me with an apology, mkay?" I said in a sickly sweet voice. She looked taken a back a bit and stepped out of my way to let me get my saddle, bridle and blue saddle pad.

But I knew as I felt her stare boring into my back that this meant war.

I was already warming up Indi at a smooth trot when Mr. Connor arrived. I silently walked Indi up to him and he patted my horse's neck.

"Nice to see you, Lucy. I'm going to get right down to business since I see Indi is already warmed up. We're going to start off with some flatwork and then a course of jumps."

I nodded and he continued.

"Please walk Indi out to the wall and we'll get started."

I did as I was told and nodded when I told him I was ready to go.

"Please free walk to M." I let Indi's reigns slip through my fingers till they were at the buckle, and Indi stayed at the wall at an even pace till we were at M.

"Collect your reigns and rising trot please."

I gathered Indi and gently asked him to trot. He complied and I rose to his smooth trot easily until we had done three laps around the ring.

"Please sit and do a figure eight." Mr. Connor's voice rung out in the empty arena.

I sat and Indi decreased his speed of trot. I led him into the center and we changed directions.

"Canter please."

I pressed Indi to pick up his right lead and he gently smoothed into a canter. I rocked with it for three laps around the arena and then Mr. Connor asked us to change directions with a figure eight.

"Flying change in the center."

I nodded and executed the move perfectly along with Indi, who swished his tail in pride. I smiled and Mr. Connor asked me to come into the center.

He smiled at me and put his clip board to his side.

"Your flatwork with Indi is truly perfect. I can see how much you two have grown together and how much he trusts and listens to you." I beamed at his praise.

"You also had complete trust in Indi, which will go into my thought about where to place you. A rider who is not in touch with their horse doesn't belong in my arena. Period."

I nodded stiffly and Mr. Connor smiled.

"Now then, shall we get onto the jumping?" I smiled and almost jumped in the saddle.

"I'm ready!" I said, a bit too confident, but Mr. Connor just laughed.

"Alright then. First, take the outside line once then the gate and the two oxers after."

I nodded. It was a short course, but I couldn't mess up. This was my dream I was chasing here.

I started Indi off at a smooth trot towards the first veridical. I had jumped three feet no sweat before, and four would be pushing it, so this was a walk in the park for me.

Indi seemed relaxed and gently popped over the first veridical, then the second. I let him canter out but checked his speed once we approached the third veridical. He glided over it and the next on. I brought Indi back to a trot and turned him so he was facing the gate. It was painted an obnoxious red and neon green.

It was probably designed to distract the riders and horses, but Indi was totally focused, so I was I.

I cantered him over the gate and he flew over it flawlessly. I smiled as we hit the ground, Indi clearing it with room to spare.

I slowed his canter for the next oxers, and he sailed over the first one, and then I urged him on to the second.

For a moment, we seemed to stop in mid air. I smiled as my hands reached up over Indi's neck and we flew over the jump.

We landed safely and with no faults and I cantered him away from, the jump before slowing him to a trot then a walk.

I bent down and hugged him, giving him a huge squeeze, not caring if Mr. Connor wanted me to go over to him.

I needed to give my boy his praise.

"Good boy Indi! That was flawless!" I praised him, and Indi knew. He pranced over to Mr. Connor and Mr. Connor in turn patted his neck, earning a soft whicker out of him.

"That truly was a flawless course. You just might be one of our best show jumpers here. You're bond with Indi, again, is almost visible. He trusts you and you in turn give him the confidence he needs. I don't need any hesitation in my answer to where you are going to be placed."

I straightened my back and Mr. Connor smiled.

"Welcome to the intermediate team, Lucy!"

I gasped and words tumbled out of my mouth.

"Mr-Mr. Connor, thank you so much! I mean, I had hoped, and this is just…thanks!" I finally settled on. Mr. Connor chuckled.

"You're very welcome. We have a practice tomorrow before and after classes. I'll email you your schedule." I smiled and dismounted, patting Indi on the shoulder before walking him out of the arena to be met by a stable hand.

"Hi, I'm Mike. I'm one of the assistants to Mr. Connor here at the stables. I'll take your horse for you." I smiled at him and handed Indi's reigns to him.

"Thanks Mike! See you later!"

And with that, I happily walked down the aisle, ready to back to my dorm, tackle my homework and fall into bed.

That's when I was tackled.

**OOOH!**

**Suspense! Well, tune in next time to find out what happens!**

**R&R**


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